1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to and has among its objects the provision of novel apparatus and methods for tying loosely defined, soft packages, e.g., the leaves of vegetable heads such as cauliflower. Further objects of the invention will be evident from the following description wherein parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The head of the cauliflower plant, generally the part eaten by man, must be shaded from the sun during its growth. Sunlight causes the cauliflower head to develop a brown color and a strong flavor, both characteristics being undesirable to the consumer. A substantial portion of head growth occurs after the remainder of the plant has attained most of its growth. For the most part, head growth takes place about one or two weeks before harvest.
To prevent sunlight damage to the cauliflower fruit, the leaves of the plant are gathered by hand and secured over the vegetable head. This procedure is time-consuming and costly. To avoid this expense many growers disregard the above procedure entirely and chance the consequences. Other growers tie only one or two leaves over the vegetable head in an attempt to compromise the high cost of the aforementioned protective procedures.
Tying machines are known and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,407,481, 2,346,786, 3,015,187, and 3,771,257. The known tiers, however, cannot be employed to tie soft packages such as vegetable leaves and the like.